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Rare exoplanet 47 EP

Kepler-20 d

RA 287.6980° · Dec 42.3386° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 6 badges
47 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Richly packed system +14
  • Two suns in its sky +12
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Sub-Neptune +5
  • Found by Kepler +3
Total score 47

3 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Sub-Neptune · +5
  • Richly packed system · +14
  • Found by Kepler · +3
  • Orbits a Sun-like star · +8
  • Two suns in its sky · +12

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Hugging its star. It orbits closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, completing a lap in less time than Mercury takes.
  • What it is made of. Its density says rock, though lighter than Earth's mix: probably less iron, or a thick shell of water and ice over the top.
  • Crowded system. One of at least 6 planets orbiting its star.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 12.6 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around July — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Properties

density gcc
4.1
diameter km
33242.6572
discovery facility
Kepler
discovery method
Transit
discovery year
2011
dist ly
921.5962
eccentricity
0.082
eq temp k
430
host star teff
5495
inclination
89.708
insolation
5.71
mag
12.61
mass earth
13.4
multi star system
yes
name
Kepler-20 d
orbital period days
77.6115
radius earth
2.606
semi major au
0.3474
sys num planets
6
sys num stars
2

About Kepler-20 d

Kepler-20 d is a rare exoplanet. It lies about 921.6 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 12.61, has an equilibrium temperature near 430 K and spans roughly 2.61 Earth radii.

It orbits closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, completing a lap in less time than Mercury takes.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 12.61, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, Kepler-20 d is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.

Why Kepler-20 d is a rare exoplanet

Kepler-20 d scores 47 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 3 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 6 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Sub-Neptune, Richly packed system, Found by Kepler, Orbits a Sun-like star and Two suns in its sky — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.